Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, but the mysterious 'dark figure' is mine. Hehe, I'm not revealing who it is just yet, but you'll find out in this chapter.

A/N: So I decided to title this chapter 'A New Enemy', cause it seemed more fitting. I'm gonna change the title for chapter 1 to 'Wanting A Normal Life'. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused. Thank you so much for your reviews, I really do appreciate them. It's good to know what you guys think. And thanks for the name suggestions, you'll find out what I decided on in this chapter.

bRaInWaVe: Yay, my first review! I'm glad you like it and I hope you keep reading.

Ashley Hammond Astro Yellow: Hehe yeah, I didn't think I'd be posting it that soon when I reviewed. Thanks for critiquing it though, I really do appreciate it. I agree with the conversation thing and tried to refrain from that in this chapter. (How'd I do?)As for the name you'll see what I chose at the end of this chapter. Thank you so much for all your help and I'm really glad you like it.

Red shadow Ranger: Thanks for reviewing and thanks for the suggestion. Read on to find out the name I chose.

Piper xox Leo: Thanks! Hehe, that's a cool way to do it, I never thought of that. You'll see what I decided on in this chapter.

Arwennicole: Thanks! I hope you keep reading.

Phantom Rogue: Thanks! Which one was your first one? You'll have to keep reading to find out what happens next.

Behind the Mask

Chapter 2: A New Enemy

On another ship orbiting Earth...

A dark figure stood in front of a viewing screen. It watched as the rangers and their friend exited the restaurant.

"Ah, you finally came out rangers, now I can have my revenge!"

On Earth...

The rangers and their new friend, Astra, walked out of the restaurant and headed for the park.

T.J. walked up beside Astra. "So, are you from around here? I haven't seen you at school."

"I'm home schooled." She replied. Well it was true, she didn't go to school, everything she knew she had learned on the Dark Fortress, either from Ecliptor or for her sheer survival alone.

The rangers hadn't bothered her much during their lunch. Every now and then one of them would say something to her, to include her in the conversation. She was glad that they didn't ask too many questions, she enjoyed just watching them. That was why she had gone down there, wasn't it? To spy on them and see if she could find any weaknesses? She hadn't expected to be invited to eat with them though. It surprised her how the rangers had so blindly accepted her without knowing a single thing about her. Maybe they weren't so bad after all...

"Look out!" she heard as she was being knocked to the ground for the second time that day. A blast narrowly missed her head, hitting a tree behind her. 'I specifically told Ecliptor not to send any monsters until I give the word.' she thought. Andros had knocked her out of harm's way and was now helping her up while the other rangers fell into a fighting stance in front of them.

"Are you alright?" he asked. She nodded and looked up to see who had fired at them. A hooded figure stood in front of them, it's weapon still trained on them. "Stay behind us, we'll protect you." he said as he turned to face their new enemy.

"Who are you?" Astra heard Andros ask. She wanted to know who it was too. It definitely wasn't one of her monsters. In fact, she wasn't even sure this was a monster at all, it was hard to tell with the cloak.

It turned it's cloaked head toward Andros. "You will know soon enough, red ranger!" Came a menacing voice.

'Red ranger? No one on Earth knows who the rangers are, they keep it a secret. So this has to be someone from a different planet...but who?' Astra thought. She didn't recognize the voice and it kinda scared her. She knew almost every evil monarch there was, but this being didn't sound like any of them. She wished she had her staff, she didn't like being powerless. Of course, she could make it materialize into her hand, but then she'd have to reveal herself, not only to the rangers but the cloaked figure as well, and she wasn't quite ready for any of them to find out yet.

Astra saw the rangers exchange looks before Andros demanded, "What do you want?" She knew he was trying to avoid acknowledging what the figure had just said and, just like she wouldn't turn into Astronema in front of them, she knew that they wouldn't morph in front of her. But there was no way that she could get away now. The rangers were standing in a half circle in front of her, facing their enemy, and there was a large tree behind her.

The cloak shook a little as the figure laughed. "My revenge." Came the answer as the figure charged at them.

Astra watched as the rangers immediately launched into battle with this new enemy. She had to admit, whoever he was, he was really good, the rangers could barely get a hit on him. He was fast, really fast, and he was winning. Even she couldn't defeat all 6 rangers single-handedly. They were trying to stay in front of her, but he was slowly breaking through their line of defense. She knew she was going to have to fight if their enemy didn't slow down soon, and it didn't look like he was going to.

She jumped out of the way when Zhane flew backward, his head hitting the tree. "Zhane!" Astra yelled. The blow to his head had knocked him unconscious. She started to go over to him but stopped when the mysterious figure ran straight at her, coming through the hole that Zhane made when he fell. She instantly threw up her arm to block the attack, her instincts taking over. She tried to kick him in return but he was too fast for her, he grabbed her foot in midair and knocked the other out from under her. She quickly got up while he was fending off the rangers.

She glanced around and saw that T.J. and Cassie were seeing about Zhane. She knew he would be alright with them so she turned her attention back to the battle. It had shifted away from the tree and the three rangers left fighting the still-cloaked figure were getting beaten pretty badly. She ran over to help them.

"Stay back Astra." Carlos told her. He had just been thrown to the ground by a particularly hard blow to the chest.

Ignoring his warning, Astra charged at the enemy. He pushed Andros and Ashley out of his way and faced her. This time she was ready for him and matched him, move for move. She finally, with the help of the other rangers, knocked him to the ground.

He quickly got up, but he didn't immediately engage them in battle again. For a few seconds he just stood there, staring at her. Shocked, she stayed where she was too, staring right back. Then, finally, he said "Who are you?"

"That's what they asked you, remember?" Astra replied. Andros, Ashley, and Carlos stood beside her, the others still having not come back. They were throwing her curious looks, but kept an eye on the figure in front of them. They were also surprised by the abrupt pause in the fight and stayed where they were.

"Very few warriors have ever been able to match me move for move and you were doing pretty well." The hooded figure stated. "So, who are you?"

"Why don't you tell me who you are?" Astra replied. "Then, maybe, I'll tell you who I am." She knew even then that she wasn't going to reveal her identity, but she really wanted to know who this mysterious stranger was.

He slowly pulled the hood of his cloak down to reveal a masked face. Instantly she knew who it was.

"Shade..." Astra said in an almost inaudible whisper.

"Ah, so you've heard of me, now who are you?" He asked staring at her intently.

She grinned, "I said maybe I'd tell you who I was, not that I would." She told him.

Glaring at her, he reached into his cloak and pulled out some sort of device. Before they could react, he pointed it at them and all Astra knew after that was darkness.

A/N: Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it. Review?